Charlotte Church was told she and other celebrities 'get what they ask for' as she launched a fiery defence of Lord Justice Leveson's landmark report on Press standards.

The singer used an appearance on Question Time last night to claim she and her family had been persecuted, hacked and blackmailed by the News of the World.

But she clashed with an audience member who launched an attack on her mother Maria and suggested anyone who courts newspapers for publicity should also expect press intrusion.

It came as Gerry McCann accused Lord Leveson's report of 'not going far enough' to protect people in the public eye and urged David Cameron to 'do the right thing' and back statutory regulation.

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Angry: An animated Charlotte Church responds after an audience member says all celebrities deserve what they get

Meanwhile political tensions escalated over the report as Ed Miliband accused David Cameron of 'betraying' all hacking victims if he does not accept all Lord Leveson's recommendations.

But the Labour leader has dropped a key demand for Ofcom to play a part in regulation.

Miss Church was one of Leveson's most high-profile witnesses and told the inquiry into media standards that she was pressured into waiving a £100,000 fee to sing at Rupert Murdoch's wedding in exchange for a promise of a 'good press'.

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But the singer's former manager, Jonathan Shalit, then took the extraordinary step of writing to Lord Justice Leveson to say there was no such deal.

Last night an unnamed audience member aimed a barbed comment at her and said that celebrities who court the press should not be surprised if they are targeted.

'The man in the street I accept shouldn't be persecuted, but some celebrities go out for notoriety and press and some of them ask for what they get,' the woman in yellow said.

Row: This audience member on Question Time suggested that celebrities deserve press intrusion when families flung into the limelight like the Dowlers did not

Stern: Charlotte was shown shaking her head as the lady said 'stronger people' may have coped better with her father's affair than her mother did

Miss Church replied sharply: 'So when my mother was blackmailed she was in a really bad psychological state at the time. The News of the World had just printed that my father had an affair. She knew about it and they were dealing with it. The shame and everything that caused had some really bad effects on her, she took an overdose.

Pressure: David Cameron, pictured in his constituency today, is being urged by celebrities and hacking victims to accept all Leveson's recommendations

'At that point the News of the World then thought it was a good idea to blackmail my mother for a
tell-all about her self harming and all of her issues. They thought that was okay and she had no choice.

'There were also
many people around me, whose phones were hacked, including our parish
priest. That has nothing to do with my public persona or me being a
celebrity.’

Referring to Church's mother's self-harm the woman replied: 'perhaps stronger people may have weathered that a little better,' leading to boos and gasps from the audience and Charlotte Church shook her head.

Cardiff-born Charlotte was thrown into the limelight after she sang Pie Jesu down the phone on This Morning when she was 11.

After this the 'Voice of an Angel' went on to forge a successful classical career that earned her millions.

But she also gained a wild child reputation, having a string of turbulent relationships in her teens and she was frequently pictured smoking and stumbling out of pubs having drunk too many 'cheeky Vimtos'.

She and her then boyfriend, Welsh rugby player Gavin Henson, had their first child, Ruby Megan, in September 2007. She had her second child, Dexter, in January 2009.

They were engaged after he flew her by private helicopter to the Cornish coast from their home in Wales to pop the question, but around six weeks later Wales's 'Posh and Becks' split up.

Young star: Charlotte Church's talent was uncovered when she was 11 and she went to be one of Britain's wealthiest teenagers (pictured right winning rear of the year aged 16)

Wild child: She also got a reputation for enjoying a drink and a cigarette, pictured here on the night before her 18th

This year she accepted £600,000 from News International after the News of the World hacked her
phone, which directly led to 33 articles appearing in the newspaper
about her and her family.

Defending the Leveson Report she said had 'offered up a reasoned
and practical way of dealing with the problem we are faced with, which
is that there have been many practices in the press for a long time
which have been unethical, immoral and illegal in some areas'.

Church rejected suggestions that
Leveson's proposals would threaten a free press, insisting: 'This is not
state regulation, that's not what it's about.'

Relationship: Charlotte and her former rugby star boyfriend Gavin Henson who she had two children with

Gerry McCann and his wife Kate, as well as the parents of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler - Bob and Sally Dowler - were treated as 'commodities' and left with no rights to privacy, dignity or basic respect, Lord Leveson said yesterday.

But Mr McCann Lord Leveson's reforms would not hold
journalists and editors to account and no individuals were brought to
book for false stories written about him and his wife, Mr McCann told BBC Radio 4.

'I don't think it (Lord Leveson's report) goes far enough,' he said.

'The Prime Minister and our other elected
politicians have an opportunity now to do the right thing. And if they
do the right thing, for the public, then it will help restore a little
confidence,' he said.

Unfair: Kate and Gerry McCann were denied dignity in their treatment by British newspapers, Lord Leveson said, but he has not gone far enough Mr McCann said today

Evidence Gerry McCann and Kate McCann arriving at the Leveson inquiry and Mr McCann spoke about 'ludicrous' stories written that suggested they had killed Madeleine

'I clearly respect his opinion but I personally disagree with the
viewpoint and Lord (Justice) Leveson, as a senior law judge of our
country, has made clear that what he is proposing is not a state-run
press. It is a fine distinction but without the statutory underpinning this system will not work.'

Speaking about the stories printed after his daughter went missing in Portugal in 2007, he said: 'The worst thing when Madeleine was abducted was the fact that it was portrayed she was dead and we were responsible for covering it up. I don't think that anybody can go through anything worse,

'There were many ludicrous aspects, that we had managed top hide a body for 28 days before we had a hire car.

'Newspapers knew what they were writing was not correct but the pound signs made them print it.

'I would say that having your child abducted is enough to destroy most families but we managed to get through but there were times where we though we might not survive.'

Welcomed: Madeleine McCann's mother said she welcomed the report by Lord Justice Leveson and said it was 'workable, proportionate and reasonable'

Other victims of phone hacking and newspaper intrusion accused David Cameron of letting them down yesterday after he refused to back statutory regulation of the Press.

Actor Hugh Grant, who led the campaign for State regulation, said victims felt failed by the Prime Minister, tweeting: ‘Buzzword is betrayal.’

Lawyer Mark Lewis, who represents the parents of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, was also critical. He said: ‘Cautious optimism lasted for about 45 minutes and then the Prime Minister spoke and said he is not going to implement a report that he instigated.’

Critical: David Sherborne, barrister for victims and celebrities, addresses the Press with Kate McCann and Bob Dowler (in brown coat). At the front is Crimewatch presenter Jacqui Hames

Members of the Hacked Off campaign held a press conference following the publication of the Leveson report

Bob and Sally Dowler and Madeleine McCann’s parents Kate and Gerry McCann gave powerful evidence to the Leveson Inquiry about the impact of Press intrusion. Mrs McCann said she felt ‘violated’ after the now defunct News of the World published her diary without her permission.

She appeared at a press conference organised by Hacked Off, the lobbying group which has pushed for statutory regulation of newspapers.

She said: ‘I welcome Lord Justice Leveson’s report and hope it will mark the start of a new era for our Press in which it treats those in the news responsibly, with care and consideration.’

Hacked Off founder Brian Cathcart said: ‘Lord Justice Leveson has done his job. He has given the Prime Minister a workable, proportionate and reasonable solution to the problems of Press abuse.

‘The Prime Minister has not done his job. His failure to accept the full recommendations of the report is unfortunate and regrettable.’

Disappointed: The parents of murdered schoolgirl Millie Dowler, Bob and Sally Dowler, left, and Kate McCann, right, have both been critical of David Cameron's response to the Leveson report

In his report, Lord Justice Leveson was scathing of Press treatment of victims of crime, including the Dowlers and the McCanns. He said: ‘This has caused real hardship and, on occasion, wreaked havoc with the lives of innocent people whose rights and liberties have been disdained.

'This is not just the famous but ordinary members of the public, caught up in events (many of them, truly tragic) far larger than they could cope with but made much, much worse by Press behaviour that, at times can only be described as outrageous.’

Some papers, he said, had been reckless ‘in prioritising sensational stories, almost irrespective of the harm that the stories may cause’. His most damning criticism was reserved for coverage of Madeleine McCann’s disappearance in Portugal in 2007. ‘If ever there were an example of a story which ran totally out of control, this is one,’ he said.

‘The appetite for “news” became insatiable, and once the original story had run its course the desire to find new leads and “angles” began to take over, with their corollary tendencies of sensationalism and scandal.

‘Not merely was the rigorous search for the truth the first principle to be sacrificed but also was any respect for the dignity, privacy and wellbeing of the McCanns.’

Former Formula One boss Max Mosley, who successfully sued the News of the World for privacy damages after claims he was involved in a so-called Nazi orgy said Leveson report does not go far enough

Not convinced: David Camerson said regulated press by law could impinge on free speech

Lord Justice Leveson said the Daily Express’ former editor Peter Hill had not discerned between coverage of the McCanns and stories about reality television. Express Newspapers admitted libel over a series of articles in the Daily Express, the Daily Star and their Sunday titles, which falsely suggested the McCanns were involved in their daughter’s death.

Lord Justice Leveson said Christopher Jefferies was also the victim of ‘a very serious injustice’ over coverage of the Joanna Yeates murder in Bristol. The retired schoolmaster accepted ‘substantial’ libel damages from eight newspapers, including the Sun and the Daily Mail, over damaging allegations.

Last night, Mr Jefferies, 67, said it would be ‘a disaster’ if the Leveson proposals were not implemented in full. I would certainly feel let down,’ he told ITV News

Former police officer and Crimewatch presenter Jacqui Hames, a victim of phone hacking, said she found Mr Cameron’s reaction to the report ‘profoundly depressing’.

Former Formula One boss Max Mosley, who successfully sued the News of the World for privacy damages after claims he was involved in a so-called Nazi orgy, said the Leveson proposals did not go far enough.